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THE LENNI LENAPE 

OR DELAWARE INDIANS 


BY 

EDWIN ROBERT WALKER 

n 

Chancei^i^or of New Jersey 




SOMERVILLE, NEW JERSEY 
The Unionist-Gazette Association, Printers 
1917 




5f1 
. JJi 


One hundred copies reprinted from the 
October, 1917, number of the 
“Proceedings of the New Jersey Historical Society" 


Gift 

KAR 16 1918 



The Lenni Lenape or Delaware Indians 


An Address by Edwin Robert Walker Before the New 
Jersey Historical Society at Newark, October 31ST, 
1917. 


In commencing this address I shall take the liberty of 
paraphrasing the opening of Sir Walter Scott’s charming 
novel ^‘Ivanhoe,” and say: 

In that pleasant district of North America formerly known 
as Nova Caesarea or New Jersey, and latterly as New Jersey, 
there extended in ancient times a large forest covering the 
greater part of the beautiful hills and plains which lie between 
the Atlantic Ocean and the river Delaware. The remains of 
this extensive wood are to be seen at this day in the desidious 
trees of the northern and the ever verdant pines of the south¬ 
ern section of our state. Here haunted of yore the stag and 
the doe, here were fought several of the most desperate bat¬ 
tles of the War of the Revolution, and here also flourished in 
ancient times those bands of roving savages whose deeds have 
been rendered so popular in American story. 

These aborigines are familiarly known to us as the Del¬ 
aware Indians. They were known to themselves as the Lenni 
Lenape. I shall call them indifferently “Lenape” and “Del¬ 
awares.” 

The name bestowed upon New Jersey by the Indians was 
“Shejachbi,” (pronounced as if spelled “Sha-ak-bee.”) They 
claimed the whole area comprising New Jersey. Their great 
chief Teedyescung stated at the conference at Easton, Penn¬ 
sylvania, in 1757, that their lands reached eastward from 
river to sea. 

When I was a boy I presumed that the word “Delaware” 
was an Indian name, evolved by the savages themselves and by 
them bestowed upon the river and bay. I was well grown up 
before I learned that the word was originally three words 
“De La Warr,” and that it was the name of an ancient Eng- 




4 


THE LENNI LENAPE OR DELAWARE INDIANS 


lish family ennobled in the time of Edward II, who reigned 
from 1307 to 1327. The particular scion of that ancient house 
for whom the Delaware River and Bay and the State of Del¬ 
aware were named, was Thomas West, Lord De La Warr, 
born July 9, 1557. He succeeded his father in the peerage in 
1602 and interested himself in the plans for the colonization of 
Virginia; became a member of the Council of Virginia in 1609, 
and the next year was appointed governor and captain general 
for life. He sailed for Virginia in March, 1610, arriving at 
Jamestown in June following with additional emigrants and 
supplies, just in time to forestall the abandonment of the col¬ 
ony. He returned to England in 1611 and sailed again for 
Virginia in 1618, but died on the voyage. 

It was from the lordly title of this distinguished nobleman 
and adventurer that we get our present name “Delaware.** 
It is undoubtedly of Norman origin, that is, “De La Warr** is. 

I cannot claim anything original for this address. Much 
has been written about the Indians and I have read much of 
what has been written. What follows has, of course, been 
drawn from the sources of information in works upon the 
Indians to be found in most of the extensive libraries. 

The word Lenni Lenape is not pronounced as it is spelled, 
—^that is, the last word is not. That, phonetically, would be 
Len-apee, but it is to be pronounced as though spelled Len-au- 
pay,—Lenape. The river known to us as the Delaware they 
called the Lenape Wihittuck, meaning river or stream of the 
Lenape. 

The Lenape were divided into three sub-tribes, (i) the 
Minsi (2) the Unami and (3) the Unalachtigo. “Minsi means 
people of the stony country, or mountaineers; “Unami, the 
people down the river, and “Unalachtigo,** people who live 
near the ocean. The three sub-tribes had each its totemic 
animal from which it claimed a mystical descent. The Minsi 
had the wolf, the Unami the turtle and the Unalachtigo the 
turkey. 

Whence came the Indians? Rafinesque, in “The Ameri¬ 
can Nations,** says that the annals of the Lenni Lenape con¬ 
tain an account of creation, telling of Kitanitowill, a God, the 




THE LENNI LENAPE OR DELAWARE INDIANS 


5 


first and eternal being, who caused the earth, water, sun, moon 
and stars. This legend also tells of a bad spirit, Makimani, 
although the theory about an Indian satan seems not to be 
accepted by some historians,—and it seems that such a being 
was not believed in by the Lenape when the white men first 
went among them. 

These annals of the Lenni Lenape given by Rafinesque tell 
also of a flood and the passage of the Indians and their 
settlement in America. From whence they passed does not 
appear, and doubtless this mystery is destined to remain for¬ 
ever unsolved. 

In 1822 Rafinesque procured in Kentucky a record pic¬ 
tured on wood giving some of the legends of the Lenape In¬ 
dians. This record is called the Walam Olum or Red Score. 
The original is not in existence so far as is known, but a 
manuscript copy made by Rafinesque in 1833 is preserved. The 
first accurate reproduction of this, figures and text, was pub¬ 
lished in 1885 in “The Lenape and their Legends,'" with com¬ 
plete text and symbols of the Walam Olum, by Dr. Daniel 
G. Brinton, of Philadelphia. 

Dr. Brinton thus summarizes the narrative of the Walam 
Olum: 

“At some remote period the ancestors of the Lenape 
dwelt probably in Labrador. They journeyed south and west 
to the St. Lawrence, near Lake Ontario. Next they dwelt for 
some generations in the pine and hemlock regions of New 
York, fighting often with the Snake people and the Talega, 
agricultural nations, living in fortified towns in Ohio and 
Indiana. They drove out the former but the latter remained 
in the Upper Ohio and its branches. The Lenape, now set¬ 
tled on the streams in Indiana, wished to remove to the East 
to join the Mohegans and others of their kin who had moved 
there directly from northern New York. So they united with 
the Hurons to drive out the Talega from the Upper Ohio, 
which was not fully accomplished for many centuries, some 
Cherokees lingering there as late as 1730." 

The Indians almost universally believed the dry land they 
knew to be a part of a great island surrounded by waters 


6 


THE LENNI LENAPE OR DELAWARE INDIANS 


whose limits were unknown and beyond which was the home of 
the Light and Sun. The Delawares believed that the whole 
was supported by a fabled turtle, whose movements caused 
earthquakes, and who had been their first preserver; their 
legend in that respect being as follows: Back in the far dis¬ 
tant past there was a great overflow of water, submerging the 
earth, and but few people survived. They took refuge on the 
back of a turtle. Presently a loon flew by, which they asked 
to dive and bring up the land. Trying, but failing in the im¬ 
mediate vicinity, he tried afar off and returned with a small 
quantity of earth in his bill. The turtle, guided by the loon, 
swam to the place where the earth was found and the survivors 
there settled and repeopled the land. 

It will probably be a matter of some surprise to most of 
you to learn that there is authority for believing that New 
Jersey was a wilderness, uninhabited by human beings until 
the year 1396, when King Wolomenap (Hollow Man) led his 
people into the Delaware Valley where they settled and over¬ 
ran New Jersey. 

The Reverend Mr. Beatty, in his mission from New York 
in 1766, to the western Indians, received from a person whom 
he credited, the following tradition, which he had from some 
old men among the Delaware tribe: That of old time their 
people were divided by a river, and one part tarried behind; 
that they knew not for a certainty how they first came to this 
continent, but gave this account: that a king of their na¬ 
tion, when they formerly lived far to the west, left his kingdom 
to his two sons; that the one son making war upon the other, 
the latter thereupon determined to depart, and seek some 
new habitation; accordingly he set out accompanied by a num¬ 
ber of people, and after wandering to and fro for the space 
of forty years, they at length came to the Delaware where 
they settled three hundred and seventy years before, that is, 
before 1766, which goes back to 1396. The way they kept 
account of this was by putting a black bead of wampum every 
year on a belt which they used for that purpose. Rafineseque 
gives a list of Lenape Kings and says their annals tell of 
Wolomenap (Hollow Man), the 77th, and that he was king 



THE LENNI LENAPE OR DELAWARE INDIANS 


7 


at the falls of the Delaware (Trenton); the first one there, 
according to the legend. 

The earliest white travelers in this part of the country 
looked upon the natives as simply savages and little different 
from the wild beasts about them, and did not trouble them¬ 
selves to study their institutions or traditions, and that has 
been done in comparatively recent times. 

The Indians found here by the first explorers and trav¬ 
elers were splendid physical specimens, well built and strong, 
with broad shoulders and small waists, dark eyes, white teeth, 
coarse black hair, of which the men left but a single tuft on 
the top of the head to accommodate an enemy’s scalping 
knife. There were few that were crippled or deformed. 

History tells us of at least one Indian who was not 
straight,—of stature, I mean,—^and that was Billy Bowlegs, a 
Seminole chief, who fought in the Florida wars. But he was 
not a Jersey Indian. 

The Indians had a habit of anointing their bodies with 
oil and the fat of beasts and fishes which they claimed pro¬ 
tected their skins from the fierce rays of the summer sun 
and the penetrating cold of winter. 

As they lived mainly by hunting and fishing, their habi¬ 
tations, which were called “wigwams,” were temporary struc¬ 
tures which could easily be removed when occasion required. 
They generally slept on skin or leaves spread on the bare 
ground, and some had crude board floors, which inspired Roger 
Williams to indict these lines: 

“God gives them sleep on ground 
or straw, 

On sedge mats or on board, 

When English beds of softest down 
Sometimes no sleep afford.” 

From these humble lodgings no one was ever turned 
away and the generous hospitality of the Indians was noticed 
with admiration by travelers. The Indian’s dinner gen¬ 
erally consisted of meat and vegetables, cooked in the same 



8 


THE LENNI LENAPE OR DELAWARE INDIANS 


vessel, which was rarely, if ever, cleansed. His breakfast gen¬ 
erally consisted of maize, that is, Indian corn, pounded in a 
mortar till crushed and then boiled. This was his ach-poan, 
whence comes the name “corn-pone,” which we all know, and, 
I may say, all like. Their thirst was quenched by drinking 
the broth of boiled meat, or by drafts of pure water. They 
had no intoxicating liquors until the advent of the white man. 
Their only stimulant was tobacco, which they smoked in pipes 
manufactured by themselves. They had no cigars, and the 
festive cigarette was entirely unknown to them, in fact was 
then unknown to everybody. 

The Lenape did not depend solely on the trophies of the 
chase for their subsistence. They were, to a comparatively 
large extent, engaged in agriculture and raised a variety of 
edible plants, corn, beans, sweet potatoes and squashes, among 
them. A hardy variety of tobacco was also cultivated. 

The art of the potter was not unknown to the Delawares, 
and their skill in bead work and feather mantles, and dressing 
animal skins, excited admiration. Their weapons were mostly 
of stone, but there was considerable native copper used for 
arrow heads, and also for pipes and ornaments. They had 
paints and dyes made from vegetables and minerals found in 
their neighborhood. 

In making a canoe they would fell a tree by means of 
their stone axes or by burning into the trunk at the base and 
would hollow out the trunk by fire, or in later times, would 
make a framework and cover it with bark and thus make a ves¬ 
sel large enough to carry a dozen or more men and to bear a 
thousand pounds or more of freight, and yet it would be so 
light that two or three men could carry it. 

Although they were usually clad only in the skins of ani¬ 
mals they had learned to make a coarse cloth from the fiber of 
nettles and other plants which they twisted and wove with 
their fingers. They made rope, purses and bags in the same 
way, and had needles made of small bones and wooden splints, 
with which they were quite dexterous. Like all primitive peo¬ 
ple the Indians were very fond of ornaments and adorned 
themselves with shells and beads and other articles skillfully 


THE LENNI LENAPE OR DELAWARE INDIANS 


9 


and decoratively fashioned by themselves. The white beads 
made by the Indians were called “wampum” and the blue, 
purple or violet ones “suckanhoch.” They were made of 
shells and other suitable materials. Used first merely for 
ornamentation, this wampum came to be so much in demand 
that it assumed the character of currency, and it was so used 
by the white settlers as well as the Indians as neither had any 
other kind of money. Some white men tried to make wampum 
but their crude product was promptly rejected as counterfeit. 

As the straight-limbed and erect Indians had no intoxi¬ 
cating liquors, pimpled noses were not to be found among 
them. Nor did they use profane language, so far as I have 
been able to learn. What a contrast between them and some 
of their white brethren! The late W. Clark Russell, in one 
of his inimitable sea stories, thus describes the English cap¬ 
tain of a vessel: “His face was purple with grog blossoms, 
his legs were bent like the tines of a pitch-fork and he was 
charged to the throat with a fo-castle vocabulary,” which is, 
as you may have heard, redolent of profanity. 

The Indians were never very numerous in New Jersey, 
at least not after the advent of the white settlers. It has been 
estimated that in 1648 there were in the various tribes about 
2,000 warriors all told, which would make a total population 
of about 8,000. After this time they disappeared rapidly. In 
1721 they were said to be few and friendly,—the fewer the 
more friendly, doubtless. 

Kalm, a Swedish traveler, who spent some time here in 
1747, observed that the disappearance of the native population 
was principally due to two agencies,—smallpox and brandy. 
It will be remembered, I believe, by everyone, that intoxicating 
liquors were sold to the Indians by the whites even in defi¬ 
ance of colonial statutes forbidding it. The practice of vio¬ 
lating excise laws, which we have every reason to believe still 
goes on, appears, therefore, to be of ancient origin and to be 
founded upon considerable historic precedent. 

The cupidity of the early settlers led them to sell liquor 
to the Indians and countless evils ensued. One day in 1643, 
at Pavonia in this state, an Indian who had become intoxi- 


10 


THE LENNI LENAPE OR DELAWARE INDIANS 


cated through the Dutch plying him with liquor, w^as asked if he 
could make good use of his bow and arrow. For an answer 
he aimed at a Dutchman thatching a house and shot him 
dead. An Englishman had been killed a few days before by 
some Indians of the Achter Col village. The whites were 
exasperated and demanded the surrender of the murderers, 
which was refused, being contrary to Indian custom. Some 
of the whites trespassed on the Indians’ cornfields, and when 
resisted shot three of the savages dead. A war seemed im¬ 
minent, and in alarm many of the Indians fled for protection 
to the neighborhood of the Fort on Manhattan Island. The 
Dutch took advantage of this opportunity, and on the night of 
February 25, 1643, party slaughtered their unsuspecting 
guests on the Island, while another party came to Pavonia 
and attacked the Indian village there, when the women and 
children were all asleep. The ferocity displayed by the whites 
on this occasion was never exceeded by the Indians. I will 
spare you any detailed account of the horrible tragedy, and 
will only add that as the result of the night’s butchery about 
eighty Indians were killed and thirty made prisoners. Eleven 
tribes arose to avenge this cruel slaughter, but were no match 
for the well-armed whites, and a thousand Indians were slain. 
Peace was concluded at a conference, April 22, 1643, Oratamy, 
sachem of the Indians living at Achinheshack\^ (Ach-in-hesk- 
acky), who declared himself commissioned by the Indians, an¬ 
swering for them. Yet, more trouble followed, but in 1645 
another treaty was made between the whites and the Indians, 
Oratamy making his mark thereto. In 1649 ^ number of lead¬ 
ing Indians made further propositions for a lasting peace, the 
principal speaker being Pennekeck (the chief behind the Col), 
in the neighborhood of Cummipaw,—probably a considerable 
village of the Hackensacks. Chief Oratamy was present but 
said nothing. However, his superiority was recognized by 
the gift of some tobacco and a gun, while the members of the 
tribe received only small presents. 

During the ten years from 1645 to 1655, there were oc¬ 
casional encounters between Indians and whites, ten to four- 


THE LENNI LENAPE OR DELAWARE INDIANS 


11 


teen of the latter being killed in that period in the vicinity 
of New Amsterdam. 

The whites were constantly encroaching on the natives 
everywhere, and in the neighborhood of Pavonia a considera¬ 
ble settlement of Dutch had grown up. The Indians became 
restive as they saw their lands slipping away from them, and 
finally seem to have planned the extirpation of the invaders. 
Very early on the morning of September 15, 1655, sixty-four 
canoes, filled with five hundred armed Indians, landed on 
Manhattan Island, and the warriors speedily scattered through 
the village. Many altercations occurred between them and the 
Dutch during the day. Toward evening they were joined by 
two hundred more Indians. Three Dutchmen and as many 
Indians were killed. The Indians then crossed over to Pa¬ 
vonia and to Staten Island, and in the course of three days 
destroyed buildings and cattle, killed about fifty whites and 
carried off eighty men, women and children into captivity. It 
was the last expiring effort of the natives near New York to 
check the resistless advance of the Swannekins, as they called 
the Dutch. 

For a time the Indians believed they had the advantage, 
and proceeded to profit by it with great shrewdness. They 
brought some of their prisoners to Pavonia and treated with 
the whites for their ransom, demanding cloth, powder, lead, 
wampum, knives, hatchets, pipes and other supplies. Chief 
Pennekeck finally sent fourteen of his prisoners over to the 
Dutch authorities and asked for powder and lead in return; 
he got what he wanted and two Indian prisoners besides. The 
negotiations continued, until Pennekeck had secured an ample 
supply of ammunition, and the Dutch had received most of 
their people back again. To the credit of the Indians it 
should be said that no complaint was made of the treatment 
of their captives. 

The authorities of New Netherlands were greatly dis¬ 
turbed by the brief but destructive war just mentioned, and 
as a precaution against the recurrence of such an event advised 
the erection of a block-house of logs, in sight of the Indians, 


12 


THE LENNI LENAPE OR DELAWARE INDIANS 


near Achinheshaky. Affairs seem to have gone smoothly be¬ 
tween the Dutch and the Hackensacks thereafter. 

When the English conquered New Netherlands in 1664, 
they were careful to cultivate the friendship of the Hacken¬ 
sack chief, and Governor Philip Carteret wrote two letters in 
1666 to Oraton, as he called him, in relation to the proposed 
purchase of the site of Newark. The chief was very old at 
this time and unable to travel from Hackensack to Newark to 
attend the conference between the whites and the natives. And 
so there passed from view that striking figure in the Indian 
history of New Jersey. It is said that he was prudent and 
sagacious in council, prompt, energetic and decisive in war, as 
the Dutch found to their cost when they recklessly provoked 
him to vengenance. 

The few glimpses we are afforded of this Indian chieftain 
clearly show him to have been a notable man among men in 
his day, and that he was recognized as such not only by the 
aborigines of New Jersey, but by the Dutch rulers with whom 
he came in contact. Mr. Nelson says that the name of such 
a man is surely worthy of commemoration, even two centuries 
after his spirit has joined his kindred in the happy hunting 
ground of his race. He was unaware, or had forgotten, that 
there is a public hall in Newark called “Oraton Hall” in honor 
of the great chief. 

The names, number and position of all the New Jersey 
tribes have not been ascertained, but it is known that about 
1650 the tribe occupying the area around the Falls of the Del¬ 
aware, quaintly written “ye ffalles of ye De La Ware,” where 
Trenton now stands, was named “Sanhican.” Their chief was 
Mosilian, who commanded about 200 braves at the falls. An 
artificial stream of considerable beauty, parallelling the Dela¬ 
ware River and running along the southwesterly boundary of 
the city, built originally to supply water power to mills, but 
now disused for that purpose, has been named Sanhican 
Creek. 

The Sanhicans were noted for the manufacture of stone 
implements, making beautiful lance and arrow heads of quartz 





THE LENNI LENAPE OR DELAWARE INDIANS 


13 


and jasper. There are several vocabularies of their dialect 
extant. 

Each tribe had a sachem or head chief. After the death 
and burial of one, the subordinate chiefs, called sagamores, met 
with the councillors and people, the new sachem being agreed 
upon, they prepared the speeches and necessary belts. They 
then marched to the town where the candidate was and one of 
the chiefs declared him to be the sachem in place of the de¬ 
ceased. The common chiefs were chosen for their personal 
merit,—their bravery, wisdom or eloquence, and the office was 
not hereditary. When one was elected a sachem or chief, his 
name was taken from him and a new one bestowed at the time 
of his installation. He could be deposed at any time by the 
council of his tribe and his office was vacated by removal to 
another locality. 

The council of each tribe was composed of the sachem 
and other chiefs, experienced warriors or aged and respected 
heads of families, elected by the tribe. The executive functions 
of the government were performed by the sachems and chiefs, 
who were also members of the council, which was legislature 
and court combined. Here matters concerning the welfare of 
the tribe were discussed and offences against the good order 
of the tribe were considered; crimes committed against indi¬ 
viduals were not regarded as sins, and they were settled be¬ 
tween the persons and families concerned, upon the principle 
lex talionis. 

There are exceptions to all rules, and the rule of the In¬ 
dians that they would not revenge wrongs upon individuals but 
would leave their kin to do so, seems sometimes to have been 
departed from, as will appear from the following: In 1671 
two Dutchmen were murdered on Matinicunk (now Burling¬ 
ton) Island in the river Delaware, by Indians, because Tash- 
iowycan, whose sister was dead, said that he would requite 
her by killing Christians, which he and another Indian pro¬ 
ceeded to do. This was reported to, and considered by, the 
whites in council, who were informed that two sagamores of 
the nation of the murderers promised their assistance to bring 
them in or have them knocked in the head. This scheme of 


14 


THE LENNI LENAPE OR DELAWARE INDIANS 


vengeance was carried out, and two Indians sent by the 
sachems to take the murderers, came upon Tachiowycan’s wig¬ 
wam in the night and one of them shot him dead, and they 
carried his body to New Castle where it was hung in chains. 
The other murderer, hearing the shot, bolted into the woods 
and was never caught. 

Each tribe had its totem, generally an animal, which was 
a sort of heraldic device like the coat of arms of an armor¬ 
bearing family. Each totem of the Lenape recognized a 
chieftain, a sachem. These were “peace chiefs.” They could 
neither go to war themselves nor send or receive the war belt. 
War was declared by the people at the instigation of “war cap¬ 
tains,” valorous “braves,” who had distinguished themselves 
by personal prowess, and especially by success in forays against 
an enemy. 

Every Indian boy was trained in the craft of field, wood 
and water. They were early taught to use the bow and ar¬ 
row, to fish with hook and line,—^hooks of bone and lines of 
hemp,—to spear fish with a forked pole and to trap them by 
means of a brush net. As the boy grew older he learned to 
wield the stone hatchet, known to the whites as a “tommy- 
hawk.” He was now expected to distinguish himself in the 
hunt, especially in the killing of deer, the noblest game of man, 
—white or red. 

We are told that the Indians were wonderful archers. 
Presumably most of them were, and probably some of them 
were not. I suppose they had their William Tells and Sir 
Walter Tyrrels. 

We all remember the legend of William Tell’s great feat 
in archery in 1307 when an Austrian bailiff demanded hom¬ 
age of him which Tell refused, and for which he was sen¬ 
tenced to death, but was given the chance of ransoming him¬ 
self by shooting an apple from off his son’s head at very long 
range, a feat which he triumphantly performed. 

The misadventure of Sir Walter Tyrrel was, that on August 
2d, in the year 1100, William II, surnamed Rufus or the Red 
Rover (from the color of his hair), was hunting in the New 
Forest accompanied by Sir Walter Tyrrel, a French gentleman. 



THE LENNI LENAPE OR DELAWARE INDIANS IS 


A stag suddenly started up and Tyrrel let fly at him an arrow 
which struck a tree, and, glancing oif, hit the King in the 
breast, killing him instantly. Sir Walter immediately put spurs 
to his horse, gained the channel coast and embarked for 
France, where he joined the Crusades as a voluntary penance 
for his involuntary crime. There is a fine old English ballad 
commemorating this regicidal tragedy, the refrain of which is: 
‘‘Instead of a royal stag that day a King of England fell.” 

When a mere boy the Indian would be permitted to sit 
at the council fire and hear discoursed, by the sages of his 
tribe, the affairs of state. When old enough to go on the 
war-path he was taught the war-whoop, kowamo, and how to 
hurl the war-club, and to use the tomahawk. 

The Indians were fairly accurate in the computation of 
time. The Lenape did not have a fixed beginning to their year, 
but reckoned from one seeding time to another, or from when 
the corn was ripe. They had a word “grachtin” for year and 
counted their ages and the sequence of events by yearly peri¬ 
ods. The records of their people, preserving the memory of 
events, myths and fables, were kept on marked sticks. At 
first they were marked with fire, but latterly they were painted, 
the colors as well as the figures having certain meanings. 

The character of the Delawares was estimated very differ¬ 
ently. The missionaries were severe upon them. One said 
they were unspeakably indolent and slothful, had little or no 
ambition, not one in a thousand had the spirit of a man. 
Another spoke of their alleged bravery with the utmost con¬ 
tempt, and characterized them as the most ordinary and the 
vilest of savages. Yet, still another missionary wrote that he 
did not belive that there were any people on the earth more 
attached to their relatives and friends than were the Indians. 

For more than forty years after the founding of Pennsyl¬ 
vania there was not a murder of a settler committd by an 
Indian. And General William H. Harrison wrote that a long 
and intimate knowledge of the Delawares, in peace and war, as 
friends and enemies, had left upon his mind the most favorable 
impressions of their character for bravery, generosity, and 
fidelity to their engagements. 


16 


THE LENNI LENAPE OR DELAWARE INDIANS 


The religious beliefs of the Delawares resembled closely 
those of the other Indian nations. They were the worship of 
Light, especially in its concrete manifestations of fire and sun; 
of the four winds, as the rain bringers; and of the Totemic 
animals. The idea of a bad spirit, a devil, appears to have 
been wholly unknown to the Indians until instilled into their 
minds by the whites, as already remarked. They had a gen¬ 
eral belief in the soul or spiritual part of man. Their doc¬ 
trine was that after death the soul went South where it would 
enjoy a happy life for a certain time and would then return and 
be bom again into the world. 

An important class among the Indians were those who 
were by the whites called “medicine men,” who were really the 
native priests. They were of two schools, one devoting them¬ 
selves to divination, the other to healing. The title of the 
former among the Delawares was “powwow,” meaning 
dreamer. They claimed the power of dreaming truthfully of 
the future, and were the interpreters of the dreams of others. 
Of course they were fakirs, though palpably so only to them¬ 
selves and not at all to their followers. The other school of 
the priestly class was called “medeu,” meaning conjurer. Some 
of them professed great austerity of life, had no fixed abode, 
exorcised sickness and officiated at funeral rites. 

When the white settlers first came to New Jersey the 
Lenape had not reached the stage of progress where the 
office of priest had been separated from that of physician. Nor 
ws the “profession” at all exclusive. Anyone was eligible to 
enter it. The Lenape were tolerant of the religious beliefs of 
others, although some of the medicine men tried to incite 
their dupes to massacre certain missionaries. The Grand 
Council of the Delawares in 1775 decreed religious liberty. 

When the missionaries came among the Indians these 
shrewd and able medicine men, “powwow” and “medeu,” ac¬ 
customed to practice upon the credulity of the unsuspecting 
red-skin, foresaw that the new faith would destroy their power 
and incidentally curtail their revenues, and therefore they vig¬ 
orously attacked the gospel teachings, and often the self-sac¬ 
rificing missionaries to the Indians were compelled to com- 




THE LENNI LENAPE OR DELAWARE INDIANS 


17 


plain of the evil influence exerted by these false prophets upon 
the aborigines. 

The principal sacred ceremony of the Indians was the 
dance and accompanying song. This was called the “kanti 
kanti,” meaning to sing. From this noisy rite the white set¬ 
tlers coined the word “cantico,” which still survives and is a 
word with us. 

The early English occupants of America gave little atten¬ 
tion to the Indian language beyond an acquisition of what was 
indispensable to trading with the natives. Dr. Brinton 
declares that William Penn professed to have ac¬ 
quired a mastery of it, but says that from the specimens Penn 
gives it is evident that all he studied was the traders’ jargon, 
which was about a near pure Lenape as pigeon English is to 
Macaulay’s periods. 

In the Lenape language, which contains two slightly dif¬ 
ferent dialects, all words are derived from simple monosyllabic 
roots, by means of affixes and suflixes, and they do not come 
within our grammatical category as nouns, adjectives, verbs and 
other parts of speech, but are indifferent themes, and to this 
there appear to be few exceptions. The genius of the language 
is holophrastiCj that is, its effort is to express the relationship 
of several ideas by combining them in one word. This is an 
example: “popochpoalimawoawoll” (po-poch-po-al-i-ma-wo-a- 
woll), meaning “they beat them” and “wunshillawoawoll” 
(wun-shill-a-wo-woll), meaning “they killed them.” 

During the War of the Revolution the Delawares were 
first neutral and then partisans of the Americans and thus 
prevented attack by hostile Indians on the Jersey towns and 
settlements. 

The Delawares were passionately fond of their ancestral 
traditions and their forefathers, and cherished the belief that 
they were the wisest and bravest of men. They loved to 
rehearse their genealogies. They were so skilled at it that 
they could repeat the chief and collateral lines with the utmost 
readiness. 

The Indians were all passionately fond of games and were 
mostly inveterate gamblers, yet, according to authority, they 


18 THE LENl^I LENAPE OR DELAWARE INDIANS 


cultivated among themselves a most scrupulous honesty, 
always kept their promises, insulted no one, were hospitable to 
strangers and faithful to their friends even unto death. 

On the subject of the Indians’ devotion to gambling the 
following may be pardoned. Bret Harte, in one of his humor¬ 
ous and purposely ungrammatical wild western poems, speaking 
of his friend Bill Nye’s visit to a mining camp, said: 

“For the camp has gone wild 
On this lottery game. 

And has even beguiled 
Injin Dick’ by the same.” 


and, later on, 

“When Nye next met my view 
Injin Dick was his mate; 

And the two around town was a-lying 
In a frightfully dissolute state.” 

and, continuing, 

“Which the war dance they had 
Round a tree at the Bend 
Was a sight that was sad; 

And it seemed that the end 
Would not justify the proceeding 
As I quiet remarked to a friend.” 

The Indians never forgot and rarely forgave an injury. 
They imitated the wild beasts in their cruelty and ferocity in 
wreaking vengeance on a foe. Their crude idea of justice 
included an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, and so on. By 
their unwritten code the thief was compelled to restore the 
stolen article or its value, and for a second offense he was 
stripped of all his goods. When one killed another it was left 
to the dead Indian’s relatives to slay the offender, but unless 
this was done within twenty-four hours, it was usual to accept 
a pecuniary recompense, payable in wampum. 


THE LENNI LENAPE OR DELAWARE INDIANS 


19 


The simple savage, living in close contact with nature, sees 
only health as the normal condition of man. When the form, 
once animated and vigorous, lay still and cold, it was an 
unfathomable mystery to him, and, according to Dr. Brinton, 
in all the Indian tribes, there was no notion of natural death. 
No Indian “died,’" he was always “killed.” Death in the 
course of nature was unknown to the Indians. When one died 
by disease they supposed he had been killed by sorcery, or 
some unknown venomous creature. 

The Indians’ dread of death would lead them to speak of 
it by circumlocution or euphemism, as “You are about to see 
your grandfathers,” or, as among the whites, “If anything 
should happen.” They had a vague belief that the spirit of the 
dead haunted their earthly homes, which Philip Freneau has 
thus apostrophized: 

“By midnight moons, o’er moistening dews. 

In vestments for the chase arrayed. 

The hunter still the deer pursues. 

The hunter and the deer, a shade.” 

A very important feature of conference with the Indians 
was an exchange of presents. The wily savages saw no sense 
in giving away valuables unless they received presents of equal 
value in return, and if their gifts were not reciprocated they 
quietly took them back, whence we get the phrase “Indian 
giver,” which we learn in childhood to call the playmate who 
gives us an apple or a stick of candy and later takes it back. 

The conferences between the colonists and the Indians 
were attended with much formality and ceremony. At a con¬ 
ference held at Easton, Pennsylvania, October i6th, 1758, 
there were present the governors of New Jersey and Pennsyl¬ 
vania, gentlemen of their councils, Indians and interpreters. 

Governor Francis Bernard of New Jersey spoke to the 
Indians, and said: 

“Brethren of all the confederated nations: 

As you proposed your questions concerning Teedyescung 
separately, I think proper to give you a separate answer 
thereto. 


20 THE LENNI LENAPE OR DELAWARE INDIANS 


I know not who made Teedyuscung so great a man; nor 
do I know that he is any greater than a chief of the Delaware 
Indians settled at Wyomink. The title of king could not be 
given him by an English governor; for we know very well 
that there is no such person among the Indians, as what we 
call a king. And if we call him so, we mean no more than 
sachem or chief. I observe in his treaties which he has held 
with the governor of Pennsylvania (which I have perused 
since our last meeting) that he says he was a woman, till you 
made him a man, by putting a tomahawk into his hand; and 
through all of those treaties, especially in the last, held at this 
town, he calls you his uncles, and professes that he is depen¬ 
dent on you; and I know not that anything has since happened 
to alter his relation to you. I therefore consider him still to 
be your nephew. 

Brethren, 

I am obliged to you for your kind promises, to return 
the captives which have been taken from us. I hope you 
will not only do so, but will also engage such of our allies 
and nephews, as have taken captives from us, to do the same. 
That you may be mindful of this I give you this belt.” 

After the governor had done speaking, and his answers 
were interpreted in the united nations and Delaware languages, 
the Indian chiefs were asked if they had anything to say. On 
which Tagashata arose, and made a speech to his cousins the 
Delaware and Minisink Indians, directing his discourse to 
Teedyescung, and said: 

‘‘Nephews, 

You may remember all that passed at this council-fire. 
The governors who sit there have put you in mind of what 
was agreed upon last year: They both put you in mind of 
this promise, and desire you will perform it: You have prom¬ 
ised it, and must perform it. We your uncles promised to 
return the prisoners. We your uncles, have promised to 
return all the English prisoners among us, and therefore we 
expect that you our cousins and nephews will do the same. As 
soon as you come home, we desire that you will search care¬ 
fully in your towns for all the prisoners among you that have 




THE LENNI LENAPE OR DELAWARE INDIANS 21 


been taken out of every province, and cause them to be deliv¬ 
ered up to your brethren. You know that it is an article of 
this peace that was made between you and your brethren: 
In conformity of which you received a large peace belt; of 
which belt we desire you to give an account, and let us know 
what is become of it, and how far you have proceeded in it.” 

After this was interpreted in the Delaware language, it 
was observed that there were no Minisink Indians present; 
the governors therefore desired that Mr. Peters and Mr. Read 
woud procure a meting of the chiefs of the united nations, 
Delawares and Minisinks, and cause the speech of Tagashata 
to be interpreted to the Minisinks in the presence of their 
uncles. 

A word about the title to lands in New Jersey will be of 
interest. After the English conquest of New Netherlands in 
1664, King Charles II granted to his brother James, Duke of 
York, afterwards James II, certain territory including New 
Jersey; and the Duke of York, in the same year granted New 
Jersey to Lord John Berkeley and Sir George Carteret, in 
recognition of, and in reward for, valiant services performed 
by those noblemen for the unfortunate Charles I, father of 
the Duke. It is certainly unfortunate for anyone to have his 
head chopped off or be otherwise executed, and it is in that 
sense alone I use the word “unfortunate” with reference to the 
perfidious King. The tribunal that tried Charles I pronounced 
him a traitor, murderer and public enemy. And I agree en¬ 
tirely with the declaration of that illustrious martyr to liberty. 
Colonel Algernon Sidney, who, speaking of the execution of 
Charles I, said it was the “justest and bravest action that was 
ever done in England or anywhere else.” 

Lord Berkeley granted and conveyed his undivided one- 
half interest in New Jersey to John Fenwick, who conveyed 
the same to William Penn, Gawn Lawry and Nicholas Lucas, 
but in which Edward Byllynge claimed to have an equitable 
interest by reason of matters that are immaterial to this story. 
In this situation and on July i, 1676, Sir Georg^Carteret, 
William Penn, Gawn Lawry, Nicholas Lucas and Edward 
Byllynge, five persons, made the famous quintipartite deed 


22 


THE LENNI LENAPE OR DELAWARE INDIANS 


dividing the province into East and West Jersey, whereby Sir 
George Carteret became the owner in severalty of East Jer¬ 
sey, and Penn, Lawry and Lucas of West Jersey, subject to the 
same trust for Byllynge as the same was subject (not disclosing 
what it was). 

William Penn acquired this interest in New Jersey before 
he obtained any in Pennsylvania, and several years before he 
visited America the first time. Sir George Carteret, owner of 
East Jersey, pledged himself to purchase lands from the In¬ 
dians from time to time as required by the settlers; and Penn, 
the dominant owner of West Jersey, found the practice of 
acquiring title from the Indians an old and established custom, 
and followed it. In 1682 the legislature passed an act in which 
it was provided that no person should buy lands from the 
Indians without a written authorization of the Province, the 
grant to be to the proprietors who would reimburse the pur¬ 
chasers. In practice, however, the deeds always appear to 
have been made to the purchaser, who bought of the proprie¬ 
tors on presentation of the deeds to them. The actual title to 
the soil was derived from the King of England who claimed 
it by right of discovery and conquest. The Indian title was a 
possessory one, that of an occupant only, and was not of the 
fee, and ‘Tee” means the absolute ownership. Taking deeds 
from the Indians, therefore, was a sort of buying one’s peace 
in the possession and occupancy of the soil in which the grantee 
had the fee. The Indians had no ownership in “severalty,” 
which means that they did not own lots or tracts whereon they 
dwelt themselves or which were in possession of their ten¬ 
ants, but the ownership of the land, such as it was, was com¬ 
mon to the tribe. 

Perhaps you would be interested in knowing the contents 
of an Indian deed. I shall insert one in this paper. It ap¬ 
pears by recital and covenant in it that the Indian grantors 
claimed that they were the only true, sole and proper owners 
of the land conveyed. The deed was made by certain Indian 
sachems to certain of the council of proprietors of West Jer¬ 
sey. It is recorded in Liber AAA of Deeds in the office of 





THE LENNI LENAPE OR DELAWARE INDIANS 23 


the secretary of state, at page 434, etc., and is taken from the 
record verbatim et literatum, as follows: 

“To all person to whome these presents shall Come we 
Caponohkamhcon Chekanthakainan Kelelaman Hokontoman 
all Indian Sachemas and the onely sole and proper owners of 
the tract of Land hereafter described and by these presents 
bargained and sould send Greetings Know ye that we the said 
Indian Sachemas for and in consideration of fivety fathom of 
Wampum thirty blew matchcotes thirty Red mattchcotes Eight 
inglish cotes twenty white blankets twenty stroudwaters thirty 
shirts fourty pare of Sotckings twenty one Kettles Tenn 
Gunns Twenty Hoes Twenty Hatchets fivety knives thirty 
Tobacko Boxes thirty Tobacko tongs thirty Lookeing glasses 
one Pound of Read Lead one rundlett of Gun Powder fourty 
barrs of Lead one pound of Beads one hundred tobacco pipes 
five hundred fishookes five hundred Needles one hundred and 
fivety awles sixty flints twnety paire of Scissors and fiveteen 
Gallons of Rum to us in hand paid by Mahlon Stacy Samuell 
Jennnigs Thomas Gardiner George Deacon Christopher 
Wetherell John Wills John Hugg Jun Isaac Sharp and John 
Reading all of them members of the Councill of Proprietors 
for the time being within the westerne division of the Province 
of New Jersey The Receipt of all which said goods above men¬ 
tioned We the said Sachemas doe hereby acknowledge and 
therewith to be fully contented satisfied and paid have granted 
bargained and sold aliened Enfoeffed Released and confirmed 
and by these presents doe fully freely and absolutely Grant 
Bargaine and sell Alyene enfoeffe Release and confirme unto 
the said Mahlon Stacy Samuell Jennings Thomas Gardiner 
George Deacon Christopher Wetherill John Wills John Hugg 
Isaac Sharpe and John Reading and to ther heires and As- 
signes forever all that tract or parcell of Land Situate above 
the falls of Delawar and lying and being within the Westerne 
division of the province of New Jersey aforesaid being Limi¬ 
ted and bounded in manner following That is to say Begining 
at the River Dellawar at the mouth of a westarne brooke 
called Laokolong as from thence along the old Indian pur¬ 
chase line which was formerly made by Adlord Bowde to the 


24 


THE LENNI LENAPE OR DELAWARE INDIANS 


white oake tree standing by the side of an Indian Road Lead¬ 
ing from Arhelomonsing unto Neshaning or Coponockons wig¬ 
wam and so from the said corner along by A line of marked 
trees North and by East or thereabouts along by the bounds of 
Hoyhams land untill it meet with a branch of Rariton River 
called Neshaning and so down the same unto the mouth of a 
brooke or Runn called Peescutchola and so along the Norther- 
most branch of the same along by the bounds of Nymhainmans 
alias Squahikkons land unto an Indian Towne called Toque- 
menching and from thence along the Indian Road Leading to 
Sheroppees plantation called Asinkoweerkong North and by 
west or thereabouts by trees markt along the road and from 
Sheroppees plantation along a line of marked trees North 
west and by North to a runn on the back side of Ohoeming and 
so downe the same untill it empties it selfe into a branch of 
Rariatn River called Caponanlong and so up the said brooke by 
the bounds of aquatoons land untill it devides it selfe into 
two branches and soe from the said forks by a line of marked 
trees south west and west south west by the land of Chekan- 
shakaman untill it meet with a brooke called the upper Nesh- 
asakowerk and soe downe the same to the mouth thereof 
emptieing it selfe into Dellawar river and so downe the said 
River to the mouth of Loakolong being the place of first be¬ 
ginning togeather with all and Singular the Mines Minerals 
Woods Waters Fowleings Fishings Huntings and all other 
Royalties franchises powers profitts Commodities Heredita¬ 
ments and appurtenances whatsoever to the said tract of land 
belonging or in any wise appertaining and all estate Right 
title interest use possession propertie Claime and demand 
whatsoever of us the said Indian sachamas of in and to the 
said granted land and premisses and every part thereof with 
apurtenances full and free liberty at all times hereafter soe 
the above said Indian Sacchamas our heires successors and 
Subjects to hunt fish and fowle uppon the unimproved land 
within the above described tract of land Alwayes excepted Re¬ 
served and foreprised To have and to hold the above described 
tract of land and granted premisses and every part thereof with 
the appurtenances unto the said Mahlon Stacy Samuell Jen- 



THE LENNI LENAPE OR DELAWARE INDIANS 25 


nings Thomas Gardiner George Deacon Christopher Whether- 
ell John Wills John Hugg Isaac Sharpe and John Reading 
there heires and assignes forever to the onely proper use and 
behoofe of themselves and the rest of the english proprietors 
within the said westerne division of the Province aforesaid 
who have subscribed and are concerned in and shall contribute 
their respective proportions towards this present purchasers to 
their severall and respective heires and assignes forever more 
And We the said Indian Sachemas for ourselves our heires 
and successors severally and respectively doe covenant prom¬ 
ise and grant with the said English proprietors above men¬ 
tioned and their heires and assignes severally and respectively 
by these presents that we are the onely true sole and proper 
owners of the abovesaid tract of land and granted premisses 
and now have good right full power law full and absolute 
authority to grant bargains and sell the same in manner above- 
said and also that the same premisses is and are free & cleare 
of and from all and all other former Gifts Grants Bargaine 
Sales and all other incumbrances whatsoever made done or 
at any time preceeding this date committed or suffered by us 
the above Indian Sachemas or by any others whatsoever with 
or by our Consent knowledge or procurement and we the 
said Indian Sachemas for ourselves our heirs and successors 
severally and respectively all the above described tract of land 
and granted premisses with every part thereof with the appur¬ 
tenances unto the said english Proprietors and their heires 
and assignes severally and respecitvely against us the said 
Indian Sachemas and our heires and successors severally and 
respectively and against all other Indian or Indians whatsoever 
Claimeing or pretending to Claime any right Title or interest 
of in or to the same shall and will warrant and forever defend 


by these presents in witness whereof We have hereunto fixed 
our hands and seales this eleaventh day of November Anno 

Dom 1703: 



Coponakonkikon: 

X 

his marke (L. S.). 

Hurkanntaman: 

X 

his marke (L. S.) 

Chekanshakaman: 

X 

his marke (L. S.). 

Kelalaman: 

X 

his marke (L. S.).’^ 


26 


THE LENNI LENAPE OR DELAWARE INDIANS 


Each nation had its boundaries, the lands within which 
were subdivided between the tribes. These boundaries were 
generally marked by mountains, rivers and lakes, and en¬ 
croachments on their lands by neighboring tribes were resented 
as a sort of poaching on their hunting and fishing domains. 
There were, however, Indian paths which were common high¬ 
ways through the territory of the various tribes, which, later, 
in numerous instances, were widened into public roads, many 
of which exist unto this day. The Indians freely traveled 
by these paths from the ocean to the interior, especially to the 
ancient council fires at Easton, Pennsylvania. 

By 1757 the Delawares had become comparatively few 
and a conference was held at Crosswicks with the view of set¬ 
tling matters in difference between them and the inhabitants 
of the colony, and the legislature appointed commissioners 
with power to inquire into the matter. Another conference 
was held at Crosswicks in 1758, at which Teedyescung, King 
of the Delawares, was present with a large number of Indians, 
and progress was made. The Delawares asked that a tract 
of land in Burlington county be bought for their occupancy 
for which they agreed to release all their rights to lands 
in New Jersey. The legislature appropriated £1600 to carry 
that project into effect and a tract of land of about 3,000 
acres was purchased for the purpose. This place was called 
“Brotherton” and about 200 Indians located on it. In 1822 
the remnant of the Delawares removed from New Jersey, the 
legislature appropriating some $3,500 for the purchase of 
their new homes and transportation to them. In 1832 an 
appropriation of $2,000, asked for by the Delawares, was 
made in final extinguishment of all Indian claims in New 
Jersey which arose out of the reservation to them of certain 
hunting and fishing rights in the treaty of 1758. In acknowl¬ 
edgment of the benefaction of New Jersey to the Dela¬ 
wares in 1822 their representative, Bartholomew S. Calvin, 
himself an Indian, wrote a letter to the legislature in which 
he said: “Not a drop of our blood have you spilled in bat¬ 
tle—not an acre of our land have you taken but by our con¬ 
sent. They place the character of New Jersey in bold relief. 




B D 1 4. 8 9 


THE LENNI LENAPE OR DELAWARE INDIANS 


27 


a bright example to those states within whose territorial lim¬ 
its our brethren still remain. Nothing save benison can fall 
upon her from the lips of a Lenno Lenape.” 

This was the valedictory of the Lenape in New Jersey; 
and the haunts that knew them formerly knew them no more. 

As “along the banks of the sacred Nile, Isis no longer 
wandering weeps, searching for the dead Osiris,” so along the 
banks of the historic Delaware, the Indian maiden no longer 
watches, waiting the return of her dusky lover from the war¬ 
path or the chase. As “the divine fires of Persia and of the 
Aztecs, have died out in the ashes of the past, and there is 
none to rekindle, and none to feed the holy flames,” so the 
camp fires of the Indians in New Jersey have flickered and 
expired, never to be relighted, never again to send a gleam 
athwart the nocturnal skies. 

Lord Campbell concludes the introduction to his monu¬ 
mental work, the “Lives of the Lord Chancellors of England,” 
by quoting from Lord Chief Justice Crewe, and says: 

“Time hath its revolutions; there must be a period and 
an end to all temporal things —finis rerum —an end of names 
and dignities, and whatever is terrene —for where is Bohun? 
Where is Mowbray? Where is Mortimer? Nay, which is 
more and most of all, where is PLANTAGENET ? They are 
entombed in the urns and sepulchres of mortality!” 

And I ask: Where are the Lenni Lenape? 

Teedyescung, Oraton, Mosilian and the other sachems and 
sagamores of old Schejachbi (New Jersey) have long since 
gone to the happy hunting ground, and the remnant of their 
tribes is on a reservation in the far West, perishing as a type 
and destined to become extinct as a people. 

The Indians have gone from New Jersey, never, never to 
return. But we shall not forget them! While pictures are 
painted; while books are printed; while children perennially 
play Indians all around us, we shall ever be vividly reminded of 
those bands of roving savages whose deeds have been rendered 
so popular in American story. 





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